Philosophy for Dummies

God is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain
I'll say it again
God is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain
I don't believe in magic
I don't believe in I-ching
I don't believe in Bible
I don't believe in tarot
I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Jesus
I don't believe in Kennedy
Í don't believe in Buddha
I don't believe in Mantra
I don't believe in gita
I don't believe in yoga
I don't believe in kings
I don't believe in Elvis
I don't believe in Zimmerman
I don't believe in Beatles
I just believe in me

--John Lennon

I don't believe in God. That is, I don't believe, as countless people do, in a being or power that created the universe and has had or will have an additional effect on the Earth and its denizens. I don't believe that something talked to Buddha and Moses and Mohammed and Joan of Arc, and gave them commands. I don't believe that prayer changes anything except the mindset of the praying person. I don't know if there is life after death, but I doubt it. I don't believe in Heaven, Hell, karma or reincarnation. I don't believe that all people act morally because of a fear of Hell. I don't believe all people do anything. I don't believe in ghosts, magic spells, or the collective unconscious. I used to believe in some of it, but things change. People, animals, plants, minerals, water, fire; this is all we have.

I believe that people have free will, and that nurture is stronger than nature. I believe that people are inherently good. I believe in morality. My moral code is to treat others the way I would like to be treated. (It's really self-preservation. I'm sure the first time one caveman saw his neighbor killed by another caveman, he thought, "Hey, I don't want that happening to me. I think killing other cavemen is wrong, and I'll spread the word." Same thing the first time one caveman saw his neighbor with his cavewoman.) I'm not so self-righteous as to think myself perfect, but my goals are to not lie, cheat, steal, injure or in other way harm other people. That includes, to me, schadenfrude and wishing specific ills on people. Sure, you know I get angry at people for their stupid behavior, but I'd rather they change their behavior than be hit by a bus. Please trust that I exaggerate for comic effect. Now, it may not directly hurt someone else to enjoy her suffering or wish she would accidentally stick a fork in her eye, but harboring such thoughts opens us up to allowing ourselves to behave in a harmful way.

(I believe in right and wrong, but also in that which is neither. It just is what it is. Now, deliberately going out of your way to get in the way of someone else's happiness in the name of morality is a big no-no in my book. That's right, if my sex/love life doesn't involve you, it's none of your business, and not subject to morality.)

I don't get it when people say, "Well, you just have to have faith that there is a god, and when we die, we go to a better place." No, I don't. You know that old quote by Groucho, where he says that he wouldn't be a part of any club that would have him? Well, I wouldn't want to believe in any god that was happy with people being unquestioning sheep. It may be a paradox, but the best god would be one whose believers were atheists. Ok, you're right, that doesn't make any sense, but I like the sound of it.

People talk about the glories and happiness of being with God, but all I see are zealots, killing each other in the name of their god. I hear people calling themselves "chosen ones," when the fact is that they are the ones doing the choosing, not "God". Hatred, massacres, Crusades, destruction, in the name of a god. People just can't take responsibility for their own feelings. Do you hate homosexuality because God told you to, or because you just hate it? Do you want to destroy the magnificent libraries of a foreign people because they are heathens, or because you know they are smarter than you are, and you don't want to feel inferior? Do you grasp onto to hope of life after death because you hate the life you have? Even the good; I believe Jesus may have been a person who had great ideas. A philosopher doesn't believe God is talking to him, though; he takes credit for those ideas. I'd venture that most people who say God talks to them are schizophrenic. But that's another story.

We are born. We have a limited amount of tme on the Earth, and we can make of it what we choose. We are all limited by our resources; some are more attractive, or more intelligent, or more athletic. Society dictates how we start out, and sometimes how we will end up. Then we die. Maybe a victim of crime, or an accident, or disease. Rarely, people can live long enough that their bodies just give out. Then it's over. It doesn't matter what you did in your life that was good or bad or how often you went to church or how often you hurt others. We all die.

In the time I have, I'll follow my moral code (which is okay for most people! check the old Bible for the Golden Rule). If I'm wrong, and there is a God that would deem that a bad way to live, then I don't want its love or comfort. You can ask anyone who knows me, and I'll bet they agree that I'm a better person than George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden, Jerry Falwell, Ariel Sharon, or Yasser Arafat. And they all believe in God.